State government refutes charges against CM on excess coal to power company

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Government on Wednesday dismissed the allegations made by the Congress-led UPA that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has favoured a private company in allotment of coal blocks.

"In the interest of the state, the chief minister keep writing to the Centre on various issues and in case of Sasan Power Ltd, a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group company, he had simply urged the PM to allow the use of excess coal in the captive coal block at its Chitrangi power generation facility coming up in Sidhi district," Industries Minister Kailash Vijaywargiya told reporters.

The intention was to ensure that the state gets enough power as early as possible for farmers, industries and domestic users, Vijaywargiya said, adding that the Prime Minister was yet to respond to the letter.

While providing copies of the letter to the media, Vijaywargiya alleged that since the state unit of Congress and India Against Corruption (IAC) leader Arvind Kejriwal were unable to cope with Chouhan's "huge popularity", attempts were being made to defame him.

The letter was written by Chouhan as per the conditions laid down in the MoU signed with the above companies that the state government would help them in the implementation of the project wherever necessary, the minister claimed.

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is setting up a 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP) at Sasan in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh and another one at Chitrangi in the same district to produce 4000 MW power.

The Sasan UMPP has been allotted three captive coal blocks -- Moher, Moher-Amroli extension and Chhatrasal. These blocks have excess coal and therefore the state government has urged the Centre on behalf of the company to allow use of excess fuel for its Chitrangi Power Plant.